“It pretty near took a war to make these English women friendly to each other and to Americans.  I lived here six months before any of them called on me, and then I had to go and dig them out; but I was not going to let them go on in such a mean way.  They told me then that they were waiting to see what church I was going to; and then I rubbed it into them that they were a poor recommend for any church, with their mean, unneighborly ways; for if a church does not teach people to be friendly I think it ought to be burned down, don’t you?  I told them I could not take much stock in that hymn about ’We shall know each other there,’ when they did not seem a bit anxious about knowing each other here, which is a heap more important; for in heaven we will all have angels to play with, but here we only have each other, and it is right lonesome when they won’t come out and play!  But I tell you things have changed for the better since the war, and now we knit and sew together, and forgive each other for being Methodists and Presbyterians; and, do you know?  I made a speech one night, right out loud so everybody could hear me, in a Red Cross meeting, and that is what I thought that I could never do.  But I got feeling so anxious about the prisoners of war in Germany that I couldn’t help making an appeal for them; and I was so keen about it, and wanted every one of those dear boys to get a square meal, that I forgot all about little Mrs. Price, and I was not caring a cent whether she was doing herself proud or not.  And when I got done the people were using their handkerchiefs, and I was sniffing pretty hard myself, but we raised eighty-five dollars then and there, and now I know I will never be scared again.  I used to think it was so ladylike to be nervous about speaking, and now I know it is just a form of selfishness.  I was simply scared that I would not do well, thinking all the time of myself.  But now everything has changed and I am ready to do anything I can.”

“Go on,” I said; “tell me some more.  Remember that you women to-day made me promise to write down how this war is hitting us, and I merely promised to write what I heard and saw.  I am not going to make up anything, so you are all under obligation to tell me all you can.  I am not to be the author of this book, but only the historian.”

“It won’t be hard,” she said encouragingly.  “There is so much happening every day that it will be harder to decide what to leave out than to find things to put in.  In this time of excitement the lid is off, I tell you; the bars are down; we can see right into the hearts of people.  It is like a fire or an earthquake when all the doors are open and the folks are carrying their dearest possessions into the street, and they are all real people now, and they have lost all their little mincing airs and all their lawdie-daw.  But believe me, we have been some fiddlers!  When I look around this house I see evidence of it everywhere; look at that abomination now”—­She pointed to an elaborately beaded match-safe which hung on the wall.